Scrapbooking vignette printer

When she was scrapbooking, Leanne had talked about 11” x 17” printers so I knew that was what I wanted for this vignette. My personal printer (not 11” x 17”) is a Canon so that was my brand choice. So I Googled and on the Canon site I found pictures and measurements of the Canon PIXMA iX7000.

Physical Dimensions  25.5"(L) x 20.4"(W) x 10.2"(H)

Wow! This thing is BIG!

So I cut a template of the printer out of some foam to see how it would fit on the table. (Didn't follow my own advice about rubbing both the foam and blade with a fabric softener sheet before cutting so now I'm covered with tiny bits of foam. LOL)

And it's almost half again as high! It's the dream printer but just takes up too much space that I want for other things.

So I cut another piece of foam the size of my own printer and spatially it's MUCH better...and while I don't particularly mind working from photos and a set of measurements, it's always easier to work with the real thing as a model. On the other hand, it's generally more work because there are details that you can fudge when working from pictures that you feel guilty about fudging when working from the real thing.

Scrapbooking Paper Organizer

The original plan was to make something similar to this to hold the scrapbooking paper but I'd like the wallpaper to lay flat. And I don't like that this one takes up so much space on the table.

So I'll make something that will fit in this position but with horizontal dividers.

I'm making this from matboard. It's dark green on the outside. I've used a paper punch to clip out semi-circles along the front of the shelves to make it easier to remove the paper.

I've used Lego to hold the divider in place while the glue dries.

BIG OOPS! This is not good!

So I took the right side off, respaced the shelves and glued the side back on, then I glued a back on the entire piece.

Cut a small piece of matboard to fit across the top and glued it in place.

This gives me a box on top to store small supplies.

Took a green pen and coloured some of the outside edges. (The colour matches much better in person than it does in the picture.)

I added a special Charles Schulze picture and four packs of Jolee's Boutique scrapbooking embellishments to the bulletin board. (I found the Jolee's pictures on the internet, sized and printed them, then covered them with clear packing tape and cut them out.

I put two strips of carpet tape across the back of the board,

 and peeled off the protective covering.

I used a piece of 1/4" thick foam to use as a guide when putting the bulletin board in place.

I taped the table in place, taped the paper organizer in place then put the scrapbooking paper on the shelves.

Here I've added a Chrynsbon chair.

Tomorrow I hope to add a printer then finish dressing the top of the table.

For now I have to get the MEE newsletter done and e-mailed before Tuesday night's meeting.

Mommy/Daughter Day Out

What an enjoyable day!

First had Leanne check out the scrapbooking vignette. She loved it and throughout the day had some ideas of what could be added to it.

Armed with our 25% off coupons, we headed for Michael's. Had fun looking around but didn't buy anything.

For those who do 1:24 scale, I spotted a tube of Safari people (chef, fireman, policeman, mailman, pilot, construction worker, female vet (?)). This one was $13.49. At about 2.5", they're a tad on the short side but you might be able to make them work depending on the scene. Safari makes several of these sets including a great one of Egyptian artifacts. Amazon carries four of them. Wow! I looked a bit further because Michael's had some Safari palm trees and some really wonderful fir trees that I wanted to mention so I checked Safari on Amazon and got 1423 results! I only looked through the first 10 pages and didn't see the trees although did spot a tube of several different trees that you might want to check out. There's a Chinese dragon on the third page that I'd like to get for my oriental scene when I get around to it.

In her Friday newsletter, Leslie Shepherd mentioned Sakura 3D crystal lacquer. Tina and Lucille had mentioned it earlier at a meeting when they were telling us about a cruise workshop they had taken and Leslie's mention just gave me the final nudge to look for it.

We went to Creative Scrapbooks, 17010 - 90 Avenue, Edmonton (across from West Edmonton Mall). I had been there before a couple years ago and it's a great resource for miniaturists. Asked about the Sakura 3D crystal lacquer. They don't sell that one but do sell Inkssentials Glossy accents and said it's the same basic thing so I bought a bottle of that and a quilting book for my DS Carol.

After that we headed to West Edmonton Mall - first stop, Dollarama! Not one of my better Dollarama trips. However, they did have the Bratz clothing set that I mentioned after my last trip.

The shoes are too big but the clothes would look great draped around a teenage girl's room. And I may be able to hang some of them in the wardrobe in the Bombay house.

Lego only seems to come in kits for specific projects these days so if you're looking for them to use as gluing jigs, they're hard to find unless you can 'borrow' some from a child or get some at a garage sale. But you can get a knock-off at Dollarama for a dollar.

Spotted these and thought they might have a mini application. Thought the top might be 3D and work for a 1:144 Christmas tree but it's flat so that's out. However, it might work for a fish skeleton. And I'm sure I'll think of a use for the little ball sections.  Even if I don't think of anything else, they'll be good as glue applicators as the dried glue is easily removed from the plastic.

Next, we checked out deSerres. Didn't see anything that tempted me in their specialty paper section (which is now downstairs) but did pick up some Weldbond glue (was running low). Was very disappointed that their Pick-A-Bead table has been downsized to about 4' x 4'. They used to have the most incredible selection.

Leanne spotted the Sekura 3D glaze pen sets. The large set was a whopping $30 so I decided to buy the six pen set for $15. Then Leanne overheard a clerk mentioning quilling and she reminded me that I needed a new quilling tool. Had a senior moment before I remembered what I use it for. Anyway, I use it to make canned goods for a pantry.

We did some other non-mini shopping and stopped by her place to see a piece of artwork that she had bought in Las Vegas and pick up the Coconut M&Ms she bought me in the U.S.

Stopped for groceries on the way home and ran into Cheryl's daughter and grandkids!

scrapbooking table done and in place

I had hoped to get this much of the vignette done in time for coffee in the afternoon yesterday with some fellow miniaturists so I'm afraid I didn't have time to take step by step pictures. As it turned out, RL interfered and that didn't happen anyway but it's at a point where it can be shown to Leanne this morning before we head out for our mommy/daughter day.

Want to add a few things to the cork board but haven't decided what. I won't put it on the wall until they're added because it's so much easier to work on it flat and outside the box.

Still need to make a printer and paper rack and more fiddly bits but it's coming along pretty well I think.

Graph paper website

Chris asked about the website/program that I used to make the graph paper that I used to make the pegboard.

http://incompetech.com/graphpaper/

To make the graph with dots, click on Squares, on the new page, click on Dots. That will bring up the PDF generator where you can choose document size, minimum border and dot weight (I just leave those at the default settings). (At the top of the page, you can also choose inches or centimeters.) Then for your grid setting, you can choose the number of dots per inch. For a peg board, it should be 12 but I think that’s just too hard to work with so I used 8 and was pleased with that. You can also choose one of seven colours for the dots. Once that’s done, click on Download PDF and you’re done.

Working from the home page again, you can also click on Triangles and Hexagons which will bring up some great options for making tile floors printed on photo paper.

There are so many options on the site, it’s fun (when you have some time) to just sit and try out various versions and options.

Hope this helps.

X-Acto knife in mini

Not much sense in having a cutting mat if you don't have an X-Acto knife!

I took a toothpick with a carved end and shaved a blade out of the piece above the first notched piece using my scalpel (could have used my X-Acto blade).

Then I painted the end of the toothpick silver. (I used Metallics by Billie nail polish from Dollarama but could/should have used my silver Pilot pen.) I didn't cut this to size until the nail polish had dried so I'd have a handle to hold while I painted it.

Once the nail polish had dried, I cut the 'knife' to size and painted the cut end.

Trash to Treasure Challenge - the fun begins....

On our Canada Minis Yahoo Group, Barb K. of ON has issued her second T2T Challenge:

This project is meant for FUN! It is a chance to do something with things you'd find around the house. The deadline is St Patrick's Day. It would be fun to use that as your theme but it is not necessary as there are NO RULES other than using the items listed below. 

First you need to find a box or container to house your project. Then the fun begins with a Scavenger Hunt. Find the following 25 items and lay them out on a cookie sheet or tray. This will help you devise a project plan. You must use a minimum of 20 of the following 25 items (or all 25 if you choose) and list which 5 you omitted. As well - you may add any one item of your own choosing from your stash.

You may use any tools, glue or paint to complete this project. You may also use your computer. (Hint - printies are allowed as long as you stick to the items on this list).

This project can be in any scale. Your creativity is most important - not exact scale.

You must use part of each item on the list - you don't have to use the entire amount but if there is a number - use part of each.

Here is the list - now start searching... And remember to have fun. ENJOY!

1. 4 feathers
2. 10 Beads
3. 3 cotton balls
4. 10" sq wrapping paper
5. Eraser
6. 5 stir sticks
7. small box (no side longer than 3")
8. 2 stickers
9. 1 full sheet of cardstock (any colour)
10. 4 bottle caps (any size)
11. Greeting card
12. 6" Foam sheet
13. 6" Felt square
14. 6 Toothpicks
15. 2 sheets of Paper (8.5 x 11)
16. 4 Q Tips
17. 3 Thumb Tacks or Push Pins (any type)
18. 6" length of ribbon
19. 2 Toothpaste caps (or any toiletry lid)
20. Small mirror (under 2")
21. TeaBag
22. 6" Sq Green fabric (any print or solid)
23. 2 Paper Clips
24. 6 Straight Pins
25. A Napkin

This is a lot of fun. Even if you don't belong to Canada Minis, you may want to play along!

I'll try to post ideas every day on how some of the items might be used...and as soon as the scrapbooking vignette is finished, I'll start working on my entry.

You can see pictures of my entries in the 2010 Challenge on my Fotki site.